


Statice

by edotfaust



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Angst, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-15
Updated: 2017-10-15
Packaged: 2019-01-17 13:15:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12366567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edotfaust/pseuds/edotfaust
Summary: Asra cannot get the taste of petals out of his mouth.





	Statice

The coughing was unrelenting.

It was at its worse when Asra was sleeping on the couch in the shop. He had to suffocate his body-shaking gasps and coughs into his pillow, hyper aware of the apprentice sleeping just in the other room. So close to hear Asra’s pained noises if Asra dared to move his face from his pillow, and endlessly fretting enough to try and help Asra ease the coughing long enough to sleep.

They would have good intentions to try, a generous soul to their core, yet the apprentice would only make it all the more complicated.

The coughing was especially tormenting tonight. Asra blamed it on how unusually affectionate and doting they were when he had returned after one of his longer journeys. His apprentice had cooked dinner to celebrate despite the late hour, and fell into the habit of holding out a spoonful of stew every few moments for Asra to taste. Despite assurances that yes, the stew was perfectly delicious, they would scrunch their nose in suspicion, taste for themselves, and add a few more spices before holding the spoon out for Asra to taste once again.

“You don’t have to go through all this effort,” Asra had said after then fifth time of this series of events.

“I want to impress you,” they had replied. The apprentice wasn’t looking at Asra when they said it, instead peering into the bubbling pot of stew, and they completely missed the look of surprise and guilt written in Asra’s features.

 _You have impressed me everyday since we first met_. The words wouldn’t make it to his mouth. He wasn’t sure if he could say it without rambling on, words falling over each other like a line of dominoes. The offhand compliment could turn into a rampage of love confessions that would stick onto them like burrs from undergrowth. It would be harder to make them forget, if Asra went too far, because he wasn’t sure if he could let himself erase their memories again if he had the slightest chance of something more. He would convince himself that risking their life for the chance to just kiss them one more time was worth it. In reality, nothing could come close to being worthy of watching their eyes grow empty.

His greed for something more left him with a cough that rattled his rib cage. When he could feel the itch crawl up from his lungs and towards his mouth, Asra pulled away from the pillow and pressed a hand to his mouth tightly. A sharp cough, mostly muffled by his hand, left a fluttering sensation against his palm. Asra pulled his hand away and curled his fingers around the delicate flower petals, satisfied by the way they were crushed in his grip.

It was a hollow victory. He had given Julian a curse he thought was fitting for the disgraceful doctor’s endless pursuit of pain. In retaliation, whatever monster that had imposed the apprentice’s curse to die from their own rightful memories didn’t leave Asra unscathed.

Asra would choke on the petals of the apprentice’s favorite flower every single day that passed without them reciprocating his love.

As he settled on the idea that he would not sleep tonight because of the coughing, he reminded himself that it was a small price to pay. If this curse made him their martyr, he would do it in every moment of every life he was granted.

He said their name into the darkness of his room, and he caught the petals that fell from his mouth.

**Author's Note:**

> Just an idea that I couldn't get out of my head.
> 
> The title is my apprentice's favorite flower, statice, which has a very ironic meaning: remembrance.


End file.
